Sunday, 17 January 2010

As those of you who have watched my live blog posts coming in today will know already, I have had a fantastic day in the Welsh mountains today with friends Elaine and Matt. We climbed Arenig Fawr a fantastic mountain that lies away from the main mountain areas of Snowdonia, all day we only saw two other walkers! We were worried when we set off that there wouldn't be as much snow as we'd have liked but we were not too disappointed when we got to the top of the mountain and found it feet deep in places. One of the funniest moments of the day was when Matt suddenly disappeared into waist deep snow and got stuck, having to use an ice axe to dig his feet out!

Elaine, Matt and Myself on Arenig Fawr summit trig

I ordered my new four season winter boots on Thursday and new anti-ball plates for my G10 crampons. I placed my order on Thursday and paid extra for next day before midday delivery, when they still hadn't arrived Saturday lunch time I was not a happy man as my plans for the weekend depended on me having these boots. In the end my old Scarpa Rangers that I haven't worn for three years had to do as the nearest thing to crampon compatible boots I own, they were surprisingly comfy!

Matt stuck in the snow to his waist, the perfect photo opportunity

The new winter boots are the Kayland Apex Trek which are on offer at half price from Rock + Run. The other gear purchases made before this walk were new Trek Mates Rannoch Moor gaiters which look like they are going to be a vital piece of kit and were great today in deep snow stopping it from entering my boots. Another bargain was a £14 pair of Reusch Mogul Event Mittens from TK Maxx which were absolutely brilliant today.

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

Tried to get out to the hills again this weekend but got as far as the A6 just past Lyme Park and realised were were not gonna get much further, instead of following the crowds to Lyme Park though we continued and went to New Mills to discover the Millenium Walkway that goes under New Mills and The Torrs Riverside Park or 'The Park Under The Town' as the locals call it. I was intruiged by this place as I see it when I get the train out to the Peak and always wondered what it was like. To say I was impressed would be a major understatement. It is a stunning place, I have driven through New Mills many times but had now idea this huge river gorge was underneath me. We parked up at Hague Bar and walked a circular walk follwing the Goyt into New Mills an then out the other side and then followed the Peak Forest canal back. We took about two an a half hours and by the time we got back to the car another few inches of snow had fallen and we struggled through snow all the way.

River Goyt below Church Road Bridge

After the fun of the weekend Monday was back to work and it snowed a little during the day and was still very icy and snoy on the ground, hard day and spent most of the evening in bed with a headache. Woke up at 2:30am and noticed the room had a strange orange tinge to it, this can only mean one thing, yep I looked outside and it was snowing heavy outside and the road had three inches of snow on it! Excited I tried to sleep. When I wok at 7:45am I looked outside to see that probably the deepest snowfall I've seen in my lifetime living in Manchester had fallen outside. It was abolutely stunning!

I measured the snow on the car this morning at 6 inches and during the day it snowed down another inch and is still snowing out there now! It is wierd walking out of the day and into half a foot deep snow that I would usually only experience high up on a mountain. I actually managed to get to work as the trams were on, much to my surprise as they are usually ground to a halt by a frost! None of us could drive in a the cars were snowed in and the roads were not drivable. Nicky had to walk 3.5 miles to work and back again. The journey to work was fantastic with views from the tram that were just unbelievable. I still am having a hard time taking it in that the world outside looks the way it does, it is amazing.